A remarkable collection of casts, commissioned by a pope during the Napoleonic era as a gift to Britain before later being gifted to Cork, has been restored to mark its bicentenary.

Alice Maher was inspired by a carving of a manacled mermaid in an Irish abbey.

Repairs to the Crawford Gallery’s lecture room, which has been closed since March after the partial collapse of a roof light, are due to get under way soon after a €40,000 grant was sanctioned.